These Sweet and Spicy Pepitas (pumpkin seeds) are so good and quite addicting! A batch can disappear as quickly as it can be made and that’s fast! These make a great snack, but can also be used in a variety of dishes from salads to soups. Suggestions on different ways to use them are provided in the Kitchen Notes.

I played with sweet and spicy pepitas for a couple of months before getting it perfect. The original recipe in one of Jane Milton’s Mexican cookbooks was good, but needed some adjustments for my tastes. For one thing, she mentions that the seeds are best when consumed immediately after applying the lime juice. Bobby and I found them very messy and not very appealing texturally. So after changing the spices, the cooking process and adding a drying period, I came up with a great sweet and spicy snack. If I plan to use them for something other than a snack, I have to hide them. They’ll disappear very quickly if I don’t.

Sweet and Spicy Pepitas

Inspired by Jane Milton's recipe in her cookbook Mexican - Healthy ways with a favorite cuisine.

These seeds only have a 10 minute prep time, but then they need to sit out for a few hours to dry and to become crunchy.

"*" See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.

Course:
Snack, Vegan, Vegetarian

Cuisine:
Mexican

Yields: 1cup

Ingredients

1cuppepitas(pumpkin seeds)

4garlic cloves,smashed and broken into seed size pieces or smaller

½tsp.red chile powder

½tsp.chipotle powder

¼tsp.salt

2tsp.sugar

Juice from ½ lime

Instructions

Toast the pepitas in a hot, dry skillet over medium heat. Shake or stir until they begin to swell and pop.

Add the garlic and continue to stir until seeds have a nice toasted color. Be careful not to let the seeds nor the garlic burn.

Remove from heat. Add the chile powder and salt and stir to coat the seeds. Continue stirring for about 15 seconds, but no more. The powders will burn in the hot pan if you leave them in too long.

Transfer to a bowl and add the sugar. Stir.

Add the lime juice and toss to coat. Spread on a cookie sheet or transfer to a large bowl. Let sit for about 4 hours until dry or overnight, stirring about every 30 minutes for the first couple of hours.

Once the seeds are dry, transfer to an airtight container.

Kitchen Notes

Pumpkin seeds – Use shelled pumpkin seeds, Just be careful because, as they heat, they do pop out of the pan and all over the kitchen.

Chile powders - As you can see, there is a lot of flexibility on the chile powders. I’ve made these with all NM red chile powder (too mild), all chipotle (too hot) and then half and half (just right). I’m sure you could use whatever chile or chili powders that you have in your spice drawer, adjusting the flavors and the heat level to your liking.

Garlic – When you add the garlic, make sure that the garlic pieces come in contact with the pan so they too will brown. The garlic combines with the seeds to impart a slight garlic flavor, but my favorite thing is when I get a piece with the seeds – a little burst of spicy toasted garlic – SO good!

The drying period – You’ll need to stir the seeds as they dry because the sugar causes them to clump. But not to worry, they separate easily even after clumping because there isn’t that much sugar in them. I find that 4 hours is minimum and overnight is best. Once dry transfer to an airtight container. I have no idea how long they’ll last because ours never make it past 3 days.

Substitution - If you happen to have this Red Chile Spice Blend already made up, then substitute the garlic, chile powders, and salt with 2 tsp. of the blend.

Nutritional value of pepitas – According to Whole Foods and LiveStrong.com pepitas are a good source of the minerals magnesium, manganese and phosphorus, and a good source of iron, copper, and protein.

These sound fantastic, MJ – I can totally see why you’d make them around the holidays as a nice munchy for guests 🙂 I’ve made pumpkin seeds with a spicy mix before, but I’ve never tried it with any sugar or citrus and I need to do this the next time I roast a pumpkin (and have seeds lying about). Thanks so much for sharing…

MJ,
These sound delicious. We love pumpkin seeds but I’ve never toasted my own. I will now 🙂 Thanks so much for linking up to Creative Thursday. Can’t wait to see what you share this week! Have a wonderful week.
Michelle

Sweet and spicy is a favorite combo for me, love this idea! This would be a great addition to a Super Bowl party spread–wonder what it would be like with dark chocolate chips added in? Thanks for the recipe 🙂

Pepitas are one of my favorite go-to snacks! They’re the perfect little salty bite, and SO good in salads and oatmeal. The spices on these sound incredible – they’d be perfect to nibble on during the big game coming up.

These look and sound delicious! I love spiced seeds and nuts, but I’ve never tried pumpkin seeds. Reading the recipe, I was thinking where I can get raw pumpkin seeds, but I guess Whole Foods probably has them?

I hope you do try them! Yes, I use half and half chipotle and mild NM chile powder, but if you don’t have the chile powder you could substitute something as mild a paprika or go really, really spicy and use cayenne. WOW! That would be hot! 🙂

What a great idea for a healthy and supremely tasty snack! I love your Mexican inspired flavourings MJ – particularly the chipotle and how neat that you were able to incorporate the lime juice successfully. I’ve got to try these! As always, your kitchen notes and serving suggestions are appreciated.

What an original and healthy snack! I love pumpkin seeds, but have never had them seasoned. I have recently tried making something similar with cashew nuts, but exagerrated with the syrup I added as a “glue” for spices and they were extremely sticky and impossible to eat without wiping fingers all the time (but it was delicious). I will see if your recipe works with cashew nuts too.

I love pepitas! My husband is from New Mexico and loves to make them. We have some waiting to be cooked right now, so I think I will just try out your recipe. Thanks for the inspiration! Love your blog.

I am not sure I should admit I did not know pepitas where pumpkin seeds. I don’t eat pumpkin anything but hubs loves it. I have to try this for him. They look and sound really delicious. I may even try them myself they look so tasty. Great photo.

MJ….what perfect timing with this recipe as I bought some pepitas a couple of weeks ago for another recipe that I didn’t have the time to make. This will be easy and I’m sure addictive! (I love sweet and spicy together). And your picture is so pretty….I just love the lighting you’ve captured….just lovely! : )

What a great snack MJ – I can totally see these vanishing as fast as they’re put out… I could eat them by the handful. Chipotle chilli powder isn’t something you see much in France, so I’m glad you added the note about using different varieties! Thanks for sharing 🙂

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